Once, in a town there was a shoemaker. He would make his shoes while chanting God’s name all the time. Whenever he would go to sell the shoes in the town, in the market, he was very sincere. He would tell the people, “Look, I bought the leather for 1€ by God’s Grace. I bought the nails for a few cents and I made a profit of 2 € on it and altogether it cost 5 €, by God’s Grace”. So, he was so sincere. In everything that he was doing, his mind was centred on God and he was accepting everything as God’s Grace. So the people saw this innocence and this love that he had for God and without any bargaining, they would buy the shoes. So it happened one day that, during the night, while he was sitting in his courtyard and he could not sleep, some robbers came and took him with them - they just kidnapped him. And after kidnapping him, they went to another house to rob it. When the owner of the house heard noises, the thieves left the man in the middle, with all the jewellery that they had stolen and they ran away. When the owner saw this innocent man with lots of things from his house, he said, “It’s impossible,” but as he saw that the man had all the jewellery with him, he doubted and he said, “Let me call the police”. He called the police, the police put the man - the shoemaker - in prison and the next day he was brought in front of the judge. And in front of the judge he said, “By the Grace of God, yesterday night I could not sleep. By the Grace of God I went outside of the house and, while I was sitting there, by the Grace of God some robbers came and kidnapped me. And, by the Grace of God, this man found me. And, by the Grace of God, he thought that I came to steal in his house. And, by the Grace of God, I am here”. But, seeing the innocence also, the judge said, “This man is not the one who has stolen. He has spoken the truth”. While coming out of the court, the shoemaker said to his friend, “It is by the Grace of God that I came out”. This shows that, very often, when we do things, we take everything for granted. We forget that behind all our actions, behind all that is happening, there is God’s Grace. And if we start seeing it in this way, we will be very happy. We will find peace in everything.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Sri Swami Vishwananda tells us a story .....
Once, in a town there was a shoemaker. He would make his shoes while chanting God’s name all the time. Whenever he would go to sell the shoes in the town, in the market, he was very sincere. He would tell the people, “Look, I bought the leather for 1€ by God’s Grace. I bought the nails for a few cents and I made a profit of 2 € on it and altogether it cost 5 €, by God’s Grace”. So, he was so sincere. In everything that he was doing, his mind was centred on God and he was accepting everything as God’s Grace. So the people saw this innocence and this love that he had for God and without any bargaining, they would buy the shoes. So it happened one day that, during the night, while he was sitting in his courtyard and he could not sleep, some robbers came and took him with them - they just kidnapped him. And after kidnapping him, they went to another house to rob it. When the owner of the house heard noises, the thieves left the man in the middle, with all the jewellery that they had stolen and they ran away. When the owner saw this innocent man with lots of things from his house, he said, “It’s impossible,” but as he saw that the man had all the jewellery with him, he doubted and he said, “Let me call the police”. He called the police, the police put the man - the shoemaker - in prison and the next day he was brought in front of the judge. And in front of the judge he said, “By the Grace of God, yesterday night I could not sleep. By the Grace of God I went outside of the house and, while I was sitting there, by the Grace of God some robbers came and kidnapped me. And, by the Grace of God, this man found me. And, by the Grace of God, he thought that I came to steal in his house. And, by the Grace of God, I am here”. But, seeing the innocence also, the judge said, “This man is not the one who has stolen. He has spoken the truth”. While coming out of the court, the shoemaker said to his friend, “It is by the Grace of God that I came out”. This shows that, very often, when we do things, we take everything for granted. We forget that behind all our actions, behind all that is happening, there is God’s Grace. And if we start seeing it in this way, we will be very happy. We will find peace in everything.
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